


Here Comes This Rising Tide

by JemTheKingOfSass, maybeillride



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Complete list of TW in end notes, Demon Haruka, M/M, Minor Character Death, Priest Rin, Spoilers in end notes, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-27 19:52:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16226171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JemTheKingOfSass/pseuds/JemTheKingOfSass, https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybeillride/pseuds/maybeillride
Summary: “Father Matsuoka,” a voice murmured in the priest’s ear, a body pressing against him from behind. He startled, heart pounding in his throat. A chill stole down his spine at the proximity of the other, at the cold, dry breath ghosting along his neck.“H-Haru,” stammered Rin, as he spun and maneuvered around the looming presence, the vast expanse of the church now at his back. He took a tentative step backwards, the crunch of an errant dead leaf deafening in the stillness of the narthex . “How are you here? I-I left. How did you find me?”Haruka’s deep blue eyes sparked with a silent challenge to Rin, one which he failed to comprehend. “You are easy to find when I am looking.”





	Here Comes This Rising Tide

**Author's Note:**

> **Please see end notes for full disclosure of Trigger Warnings.** This contains topics that are considered sensitive. The TW are listed in the end notes so as to not spoil anything in the tags, but are available to those that would prefer having them clearly identified before reading. If you think any additional warnings are needed, please don't hesitate to let us know.
> 
> Title is from “The Phoenix” by Fall Out Boy. 
> 
> This AU began about 8 months ago as just one scene which I shared with Teresa. Then we had a long, enjoyable afternoon of brainstorming and story planning, and I wrote a little more. Then everything stalled. Teresa and her creative brilliance spent far too much time trying to dig me out of my plot hole, but even her immense talent couldn’t save this as it was. So I scrapped all except the aforementioned scene and reworked the entire thing, received the Teresa stamp of approval on its new direction, and this is the final result.
> 
> Happy Halloween y'all!

 

 

* * *

 

The wind whistled through the cavernous church as the young priest strode up the aisle to secure the ornate wooden doors at the main entrance. Moonlight softly filtered through the stained glass windows, pitching odd distorted shadows along the floor. The low howling noise did nothing to dispel Rin’s unease at spending another night at his new parish. Though the rectory housed perfectly satisfactory living quarters, he always took longer than most people adjusting to sleeping in unfamiliar locations. It had been over a week, yet he still struggled to relax enough for any semblance of restful sleep.

Grumbling to himself at the late hour, Rin wished for the umpteenth time that there was not an open door policy in this church; no parishioners had come to pray in solitude since he arrived days ago. Rin would rather lock up the building in the daylight, when his mind had a harder time getting the better of him. As Rin stretched his hand out towards the handle, the door flew open, bringing a gust of damp autumn air with it. Rin shivered and fumbled for the key in his pocket. He latched and locked the doors, heaving a sigh of relief that he could retreat to the safety and solitude of his bedroom with this task completed. Dark thoughts were running rampant and sleep seemed more elusive than usual. 

“Father Matsuoka,” a voice murmured in the priest’s ear, a body pressing against him from behind. He startled, heart pounding in his throat. A chill stole down his spine at the proximity of the other, at the cold, dry breath ghosting along his neck. 

“H-Haru,” stammered Rin, as he spun and maneuvered around the looming presence, the vast expanse of the church now at his back. He took a tentative step backwards, the crunch of an errant dead leaf deafening in the stillness of the narthex . “How are you here? I-I left. How did you find me?”

Haruka’s deep blue eyes sparked with a silent challenge to Rin, one which he failed to comprehend. “You are easy to find when I am looking.”

Rin retreated and the intruder matched every step, keeping pace until open space ran out and Rin’s thighs hit the back of a pew. His hands flailed behind him to brace himself so he didn’t topple over. His vision wavered and sweat dampened his brow as the panic set in, his breathing reduced to frantic pants, his mind tumbling over itself trying to understand why Haruka was _here_. Rin had left him behind, he thought he escaped his presence and the traitorous emotions that muddled his mind.

“Sit, Rin,” commanded Haruka, gesturing at the pew Rin gripped, knuckles white, already aching with tension. He swept past, gracefully tucking himself onto the bench seat. “You abandoned me before I got to explain everything to you. There is more for you to understand.”

Desperate to disobey and childishly flee to the safety of the rectory, but not daring to refuse, Rin stumbled over the kneeler and hesitantly perched next to Haruka. Their arms were touching, and his skin felt too warm beside the chill radiating off the body next to him. He opened his mouth and turned his head towards the other, except the words stuck in his throat as soon as they locked eyes. He let out a choking gasp, yanked into the past without consent, assaulted with a memory he did not recall living through.

 

 

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_Rin’s vision clouded with water, a murkier version of the blue found in eyes all too familiar. He felt his lips part, trying to cry out for the safe embrace of the man suddenly in front of him, his hero, but no noise spilled from his lips as the sea filled his mouth. A swell carried him up and out, dragging him under as he was forcibly moved away from his father. He was hysterical, his body gripped with terror, and the frigid, churning water made his body completely numb. Everything darkened at the edges, he was losing focus, he could not breathe. His father was not near him anymore. Rin was surrounded by the ocean, salt stinging his eyes as he swung his arms and vigorously kicked his legs with all the strength he had left; he felt so small. He could not escape the icy clutch of the water, there was no surface to break. Water pressed in on him; he couldn’t see, he couldn’t hear, aware only of the fear overtaking his mind, a young heart frantic to fulfill a lifetime of beats in its waning moments._

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_Rin was drowning._

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_A violent shudder tore through him, leaving stillness in its wake. Rin glanced over his shoulder, through the water, to the commotion behind him. His father was right there, treading water, frantically chanting out a name, _Rin Rin Rin_ , eyes wide with alarm, voice pitched high with desperation. There was nothing except the turbulent sea crashing all around him, yet he felt detached, distress vanished, leaving only stoic calm in its absence. He swam without tiring, and smoothly reached out a delicate hand to clutch at something in order to bring it close. He wrapped his arms around the child with soaked crimson hair and blue tinged lips. He moved to plunge deeper under the water and take the boy away from the storm raging above, when he distantly heard a broken plea. He barely made out the man’s voice, breaking the surface to locate the exhausted, grief-stricken parent._

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_He moved swiftly, with his cargo held snugly in his embrace. He shifted the child to one arm and grabbed the man with his other, and swam until they reached the shore. He dropped the adult on the sand, but clung to his small passenger, protecting him as briny water trickled out of the boy’s mouth. Rin’s mouth. His mouth._

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_Rin felt a yank on his arms as he struggled to regain control of his own mind, battling the prison of this warped memory._

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_“Please! Please give him to me, let me try to resuscitate him! Before it’s too late!” His father sobbed, a sound he was certain he had never heard before._

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_Rin spoke in a voice that was not his own, but that he recognized instantaneously. “It is already too late, Toraichi.”_

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_His father looked directly at him, a crazed glint in his eye. “No! You can’t have him.” ___

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_“The sea takes who is offered,” he responded calmly. “Your son needs to come with me.”_

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_“No!” Toraichi fought, reaching out to try and pry the dying child out of his grasp, as Rin goggled helplessly down at his youthful visage, hanging limp in pale arms that weren’t his. “I’ll do anything, he has to live! It’s supposed to be me!”_

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_Rin stared at his father. He watched the tears flow helplessly and heard himself argue, undisturbed by the raw emotion displayed before him. “I need someone. A balance needs to be paid. Your boy is practically already-”_

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_“Stop! Don’t say it! Take me. Take me, not Rin. He’s got an entire life to live!”_

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_“He and his sister will live without their father. Your wife will be a widow. This cannot be undone.”_

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_“Take me! Rin needs to live! He cannot die here and now, a victim of the ocean. There is no changing my mind.” Toraichi begged as he fell, collapsing, knees roughly hitting the sand in despair._

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_Rin felt his head dip sharply once in agreement, and gently placed the drenched and motionless redheaded boy on the beach. He turned back to Toraichi and glided directly in front of him, staring into brown eyes he knew so well but had not seen in years. _Dad_. He yearned to reach out, touch his father, fighting his body against the memory’s limitations, he strained forward—_

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Rin slammed back to the present, his shoulders firmly gripped and lightly shaken. Haruka had broken their eye contact, his head turned to the side as he stared blankly at the hymnals stacked on the end of the pew.

“You do not need to see the life leave your father’s eyes." Haruka uttered so quietly Rin barely heard him. 

“Wha-what was that?” Rin was having trouble breathing, completely unsettled and lost, emotionally floundering. “I don’t...that can’t be. How?”

“I met your father. I witnessed his final breath. I took him under myself. I did the job of a next-world yōkai.” Haruka paused. “It was supposed to be you.”

Terror gripped his chest like a vice as Rin struggled to his feet and stumbled into the aisle. “I can’t be here anymore, I can’t listen to this!”

“Rin.”

“No! This is crazy!” He tried to put distance between them as quickly as possible, separating himself from this relentless demon who took his father’s life by choice. Now that the chill that permanently emanated from Haruka had released him, Rin _burned_ ; his skin was on fire, sweat scorched down his neck. Trembling, he glared down at Haruka.

Haruka gazed up at him, expression bland. “You can always come to me in the river. I have told you that before. The water will answer any of your questions.”

“I don’t know what that means, Haru!” Rin huffed in frustration. He was disconcerted and unsure what he was thinking, part of him longing to remain in the church now that Haruka had somehow managed to locate him. The larger, more disturbed part of him needed to escape, although clearly there was no amount of distance that would spare him from what he had witnessed through Haruka’s eyes. Rin stormed out of the nave, back to the pretense of safety found within his quarters, for solitude and a chance to wrap his head around memories he had been made privy to, ones that were _not his_. Unsettling thoughts rang through his mind like an alarm, blaring a warning he could do nothing to heed, clanging with the belief that he fervently clung to in the privacy of his own heart.

He belonged to Haruka.

 

* * *

 

Rin shivered - he was feverish and had been stripped of his vestments and clothing. He tried to focus on the stained glass windows and vaulted wooden beams above his head, yet it all swam into a swirling mess of colors in his waning vision. All he wore was the ceramic ornamental rosary he had been given by his father years ago, religious idolatry hanging like a noose around his neck. He tried to reach for it, fingers scrabbling for purchase against the rough vesperal cloth at his back, but his arms and legs were immobile, heavy with desire. He could not speak, could not protest even if he wanted to, though stopping Haruka was the last thing on his mind. The only movement his mouth seemed capable of was returning frantic kisses, gasping out heated breaths, shamelessly begging for more. His chest heaved, his lungs burned, his swore his heart had pounded itself outside the cavity it was supposed to be beating within.

The priest felt Haruka’s cool hands all over him, holding him down, skimming over his skin, groping, caressing, squeezing. Strong hips pinned his own flat, holding him firmly against the unforgiving altar, while lips sucked and bit at his neck. Sharp fangs grazed the underside of his jaw as his hair was firmly tugged back to expose more of the pale, vulnerable column of his neck. Rin was sure his pulse was visible, he heard the blood thrumming through his veins. Through blurry vision he tried to focus his eyes, except everything was dull and muted. In his periphery he noted the apse surrounding them, the sanctuary housing the tabernacle and other sacred vessels, Rin unworthy of being in their presence.

The touches that roamed over Rin’s chest and abdomen were so icy they scorched a trail of fire behind them. Strong, slender fingers moved achingly slowly down his body, chilling everything in their wake, before they smoothed across his pelvis and down his thighs to reach in between them. His length was gripped and massaged, while a forceful hand moved further to tease at his entrance, tracing, brushing, pressing in to leave their frigid imprint. Despite the initial freeze of each caress, he was sure his skin was ablaze wherever he’d been touched; he was being consumed from the inside out. 

Rin perceived everything with heightened awareness as Haruka moved above him, entering and pushing into his body, clawing with insatiable hunger at Rin’s hips. He saw familiar things with newfound stunning clarity, the sharp cheekbones, the luminous gaze, the silky sooty hair. His mind swam in confusion and lust, his body lost to passion and a throbbing, pulsing need. The hand that had been inside him reached up to violently grasp the bequeathed prayer beads around his neck, and he felt his head and shoulders yanked up until Haruka's nose brushed his, his sight swirling in a fog of blue and black.

As Rin came with an uncontrollable quaking shudder, he heard Haruka’s soothing voice, murmuring words against his mouth, more startling than any of the activity that preceded them. “You remind me of your father, Father.” Rin’s vision tunneled and he succumbed to the darkness that chased him.

When Rin awoke to sunlight streaming through his window, he was in his bed in the rectory, safely tucked under his spartan covers, images of Haruka and the altar distant and hazy like dreams.

 

* * *

 

In the dying amber light of sunset, Rin stomped down to the river, seeking Haruka with grim determination. He located him instantly and, like a twisted magnet, his focus snapped to the gleaming eyes that shone above the calm surface of the water. Rin wrapped his arms around his torso, wishing he had thought to grab a coat to ward off the autumnal chill. He was spoiling for a fight, needing to lash out and relieve the building tension within him, which grew thicker and uglier inside of him the longer he left it unattended. His mind longed for answers, trusting his body to bring him to a place he could lay his anguish to rest. His heart pled for a remedy, a release, some sort of honest cure for the ache that dwelled within, and yet, it craved Haruka.

 

_You can always come to me in the river._  


_The water will answer your questions._  


_I met your father._  


_I witnessed his final breath._  


_I took him under myself._

 

Rin yelled out, voice echoing as it floated across the water. “Who are you?”

A stubborn chin lifted further out of the river. “I am Haruka.”

Rin growled. “I know that! Then _what_ are you? Yōkai aren’t real.”

“I am very real, Rin. And more specifically, I am a kappa.”

“But kappa are-”

“I am a demon. Is that not obvious by now?” The infuriatingly measured tone of Haruka stirred up the roiling mess within Rin.

“Why are you doing this?” Rin hated how weak and anguished he sounded. “Why me, why now? I tried to leave you, Haru, I tried...” A stifled sob escaped his mouth.

“You have fascinated me since I met Toraichi.” Haruka patiently explained. “I craved knowledge of you. How did you deserve a second chance, what made you so special to your father? I tried to ignore it, escape the thoughts, but I could not let you go. I needed to make contact and then I had to find you again after you left.”

Thin, disbelieving eyebrows shot up Rin’s forehead. “Wouldn’t most parents save their children? That can’t have been the first deal like that you made!”

“You would be surprised.”

“Let’s say I believe that. Why do you keep saying I’m like my dad? You didn’t-” Rin felt shaken in his core, thoughts barreling unbidden through his mind. “He didn’t, I mean, with you? But, my mom, and...he had me and my sister, but, how-”

“No. You saw the brief interaction we had. We did not do anything like what you and I have done, Father Matsuoka, but you _are_ like him. Passionate, generous, driven. I am sure he would have been a wonderful lover.”

“We aren’t lovers, Haru!” Rin tugged at his hair in frustration.

“Oh? Then what are we?” Haruka slipped through the water like it was a part of him, an extension of his body. He eased himself onto the edge of the riverbank, propping himself on his elbows to peer up at Rin, blue eyes glowing, chin tipped up to capture the rapidly disappearing sunlight.

“I’m a priest, I’ve been ordained to uphold certain values. You are...not even human!”

“Say it, Rin. Say that I am a demon.”

“Did you lure me in when I was young? To the water? Did you try to kill me? Aren’t kappa famous for drowning children and drinking their blood?” Rin’s mind was spinning out of control, fear caused him to think the worst of Haruka.

For the first time in this interrogation, Haruka appeared offended as he sneered. “I would never hurt a child. I would never hurt anyone. I merely assist people to get where they are already going, leaving this river to other bodies of water if I am called. You and your father were fishing when the storm came suddenly, the way it can when out at sea. The boat capsized and was swept away almost immediately. You were not very far out but got separated from each other. You were so young, Rin. You tried your best, you fought hard for longer than most children twice your age would be capable of in water that fierce and aggressive.” 

Rin paled and sat down hard on the riverbank, landing next to Haruka. “What have I done?”

“What do you mean?”

“I shouldn’t be here. And not only should I not be here, but I’ve taken oaths and made promises that don’t include having an affair with a supernatural being.”

“Are you not allowed to have a relationship?”

“No I am. I’m allowed to be romantically involved. My sect believes that being committed to love, giving yourself fully to another person, is a part of humanity that you shouldn’t have to distance yourself from just because of a religious calling. My father felt very strongly about that and I do too.” Rin clutched his head, inner conflict brewing, as duty and desire clashed in a throbbing headache.

Haruka grimaced in confusion. “So what is the problem?”

Rin’s arms spastically rose from his body in disbelief. “You are yōkai, Haru!”

“Is there only one proper way to have a lover? You are different, Rin. The moment I spared you, you were destined to be unique.” Haruka hauled the rest of his body out of the river and Rin finally took in his demon appearance, everything pronounced in his natural habitat. Haruka noticed Rin’s assessment and raised clawed, webbed hands and feet towards him, a greenish tinge coloring typically pale skin. He twisted onto his abdomen, showing off a mottled brown design along his back. “Touch it.”

Rin controlled the flinch; he knew this was Haruka, that this was how he truly existed in his demon form. Without sparing a moment to doubt, to question his own sanity, he extended his arm towards Haruka, placing his damp palm lightly on the exposed back, a hard, ridged shell unyielding under his hand. Rin gaped and jerked his hand back, clutching it against his chest. 

“Haru, I-” Rin faltered and lost his words as Haruka reached out to grasp his hand in an icy grip, forcefully pulling it back towards him. This time, he lifted it and placed it on the crown of his head, where black hair normally laid. Rin’s fingers were pushed into a slight depression, a shallow basin curved into Haruka’s skull. His skin tingled where it was plunged into the frigid water that filled the cavity, but when Haruka released him and he lifted his hand away, the sensation passed and his fingers were dry. Rin bowed his head in defeat. “I don’t understand.” 

Haruka slithered backwards, sliding into the river and submerging himself. Rin blinked at the spot he disappeared, weary of more surprises, convinced that the fever dreams, the stolen memories, the demon he adored, that everything was in his imagination. He ran tentative fingers up his neck as he sought a pulse, a rhythmic confirmation that he was alive. 

When Haruka emerged, walking leisurely out of the shallow water, soft black tendrils of hair dripping like a mere mortal, his eyes shone with an ethereal luster which belied the human disguise. Rin was held captive by the sight, unable to turn away, powerless against Haruka’s hold over him. 

“I carry part of my river with me always, it is the only way I can be out of the water and in human form. It is hidden underneath my hair.” Haruka sat next to Rin, tucking his bare legs protectively underneath him, though Rin doubted he ever felt cold.

Rin stared up into the sky, now illuminated with only a smattering of stars and the slight silver crescent of the moon. “Why leave the river at all? You knew I’d come to you eventually, if you called me.”

“I wanted you to come to me under your own power.” Haruka glanced over, a shy look despite the strength of his words.

“I’m here aren’t I?”

“I know. I got what I needed.” 

“Right, to see what makes me special.” Rin scoffed. “And? Did you get what you came for?”

Haruka dragged his fingers through the sparse grass on the shore, water seeping up through the shallow trenches. “I did. Now you are free.”

“What?”

“You are free to carry on the life that was given to you, and I am free to return to the river without thoughts of you bothering me.”

“I can’t stay.” A flare of alarm shot through him, as Rin realized he couldn’t impulsively jump into a life with Haruka any more than he already had, and even that had been too much.

“I know, Rin. You have to leave.”

“Haru, I want to be a leader in the community like my father was, he solved problems and provided guidance. He was something of a hero to his parishioners and I want to try and do that too. I-I can’t stay.”

“I _know_. You have to go.” Haruka’s flat tone broke, and Rin heard the sorrow that laced his words.

“But Haru, I need you. You’re…” Rin was the one departing, but he felt nothing except distress at his own mortality and stubborn refusal to quit on his life’s work.

Haruka stopped playing with the grass and lightly rested his hand over Rin’s. “Then come back to me when you have done everything necessary in order for you to feel free.”

“Haru.”

“I will wait for you forever, Rin.”

 

* * *

 

(Haruka waited.

Before Rin, the years had passed quickly in a blur of drowning monotony. Now each transfer merely served to remind him that there was only one soul that mattered, not for him to shuttle along, forgotten once consumed by the water, but to hold. Haruka knew Rin’s was a soul to embrace. 

 

After Rin, it took otherworldly levels of patience and self-control for Haruka to stay in the water and remain tethered to his river. He only ventured out if summoned, his presence required at sea when the death toll was too great. Every new parochial assignment meant relocation, a position that pulled his favorite mortal, the only one that had ever intrigued him, further away. He could have hunted Rin down, tracking the priest as easily as dragging a motionless body further underneath the surface. 

Haruka ignored the twinges inside him, the movement in his chest as the protection around his heart began to crumble, and let Rin live his life, constantly in motion, while the demon endured a static existence.

Haruka did not follow. Instead, he waited.

 

Rin never called for him, never sought him out, avoiding the yōkai like a proper priest. He served humanity, assisting them in their struggle to make sense of the world. He strove to explore his calling and satisfy his dreams. 

Maybe Rin thought about Haruka from time to time. 

It didn’t matter. 

 

 

Rin would be with Haruka someday. Forever. 

 

 

For eternity.)

 

* * *

 

Shaking, unsteady legs brought Rin down to the edge of the river after a long day of travel, finally returning to the place he credited with his motivation, his reason for pushing himself when he was tempted to quit. The full moon hung heavy overhead, its vibrance dulled only in comparison to memories of it throughout the decades. In a year long past, he promised himself he wouldn’t come back here until he had achieved his goals, lived his life the way he wanted, having reached the lofty dreams he set for himself. The priest harbored no regrets. He stood on the riverbank, fulfilled and at peace. There was only one thing left to do, the strength of his yearning for Haruka made him ache.

Trembling fingers slowly removed his shoes and his belt, articles of clothing landing unceremoniously in a growing pile beside him. Rin sat stiffly on the ground, glad for the summer heat that still warmed the air around him. He dipped a wrinkled foot into the water, shuddering with the chill of the river, anticipation and relief filled his body. He was ready for one life to end, only for another one to begin. 

A head broke through the surface like a beacon, and like moments distantly in the past, Rin couldn’t look away, the world around him narrowed to only one point. Sapphire eyes sparkled brighter than the stars ever could, as one of Rin’s last breaths caught in his throat at the sight. 

A deceptively young, lithe body slid closer to the shore, more beautiful in person than Rin’s dreams could recall. Slender, pale hands planted themselves on either side of Rin, as Haruka hoisted himself out of the water. He pressed down, lowering Rin onto his back, hovering over him as he gazed at Rin as though he was a lovely vision to be treasured, instead of a frail, elderly man. Rin wondered if Haruka visualized smooth flesh and rich hair, sharp eyes not clouded with the passage of time. As he peered up at the unblemished face and taut muscles surrounding him, he felt a silly, vain longing for youth, the reasons he spent so much time away from Haruka slipping through the seams of his mind, easily forgotten as the end beckoned.

A smile softened Haruka’s entire face. “I cannot believe you are finally here.”

“I came as fast as I could.”

“And now we have forever, Rin.” 

“Forever, Haru,” whispered Rin, as tears trickled down his temples to soak into the ground below.

Haruka tensed when he noticed Rin crying, a scowl dragging the corners of his mouth and eyes downward, body held rigid above the priest. “You do not have to do this. Just because you wanted it before. I can still...” He trailed off, refusing to look anywhere but the river.

Rin stroked a shaking thumb across a strong jaw, pleased when familiar eyes reflected the light back towards him. “I want this. I want you.” The moon backlit Haruka as he leaned down to nose at Rin’s cheek, trailing his lips across thin, frail skin. Rin was overwhelmed; he felt dizzy, mind calm but blanketed with fog, consciousness waning. His lungs tightened as he wheezed. “Haru, you’re mine. You’re shining.”

 

* * *

 

(Haruka rolled off of Rin and stood, gazing down at the man about to sacrifice any hope for the salvation he spent a lifetime preaching, one that Haruka thought might even exist. It was not his, and now it was never to be Rin’s. He bent down to pick up his precious being with only fleeting mortal moments remaining; he cradled him against his chest, reverent of his choice. Rin had placed all his faith in Haruka, confidence never faltering in the yōkai, who maybe at one time, centuries ago, thought himself extraordinary simply for existing. In reality, up until now, he was just Haruka, a kappa floating around his river, a simple demon who helped those lost in the water journey to their next destination. This moment, this _human_ , was what made him special, was who mattered.

As Haruka entered the river, he laid his head against the wispy faded strands about to be returned to their former luster and caressed the failing body that was only seconds from restoration to a youthful state. He lowered Rin down, not relinquishing his hold, as his powers surged through the water, allowing the river to enter Rin. His body shook, normally the exertion from moving a soul barely registered, but he had never transferred a soul to his realm before, no one ever tempted to stay with him, no one he had ever wanted to. Everything about Rin had always meant something to Haruka, inspired him to feel beyond what he believed he was capable of experiencing.

The lifeless man in Haruka's arms stirred, slipping out of his grasp, and a stab of terror that Rin somehow still left him behind pierced through Haruka and his vacant arms. If his soul escaped Haruka’s grasp now, Rin would not be able to venture on, neither there nor here, doomed to be a lost soul forever. Haruka would continue existing perpetually, as before, except emptier, lost, in a mocking shadow of his prior existence.

 

Haruka would be alone.

 

Yōkai never failed. 

 

Again, Haruka waited.

 

The long moment of dread and uncertainty was broken when a drenched head of vivid scarlet hair burst out of the water. Clear and lucid eyes, brimming with life, honed in on Haruka, as Rin expelled river water from lungs that were no longer strictly necessary. The coughing fit felt interminable to Haruka, though eventually Rin’s chest stilled, and the quiet night air hung expectantly around them as they stared at one another.

Rin waded over to the shore and sank down to the ground, blinking up at Haruka, who had protectively trailed after him. “You look the same, Haru. Everything looks the same. I thought maybe I’d see things differently now, but you’re still shining.” Rin laughed, a deep, full-bodied sound that made Haruka long to curl up into it and let its warmth cocoon him, gradually thawing the ice, frigid shards splintering off before melting away. Instead, he tentatively tucked his arms around Rin and hugged him like their endless lives depended on it. Rin made Haruka reckless with his emotions, and had done since his father had pleaded to spare his life. 

“I love you, Haru.”

Haruka sensed something new, something bigger and infinitely more powerful than him, stretch its limbs and test its limits inside of him. It bled out, gushing through his body and filling all his cracks and crevices, smoothing over them with a foreign substance and feelings he couldn’t pinpoint. The dusty walls protecting his heart finished their epic collapse, a wet, tender, beating organ emerging out of the darkness. He gazed at Rin, who watched him in amusement, while flexing fingers that weren’t stiff and rolling shoulders that would never ache again. 

“I’m...happy.” Haruka blurted out while taking Rin's hands, running a thumb over soft knuckles as he spoke. “You’re my joy.” A slight smile lifted one corner of Haruka’s mouth as he identified the fledgling emotion in his trembling, pulsing heart, the cause of it radiating a similar euphoria beside him. There was still so much to discover about the former priest, though Haruka already noticed and cherished the most crucial parts. His core essence thrived with Rin’s, and Rin’s now with his, committed to a plane of existence not easily understood by simple mortals, grounded by their unshakable faith in one another.

 

Connected through the power of the demon’s water, the mind, body, and soul of Rin belonged to Haruka for the rest of time.

 

 

Yet Haruka’s heart was controlled by Rin. Forever.

 

 

For eternity.)

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> TW List:  
> - **MCD** : Technically Rin does die twice--there is a drowning scene that is somewhat descriptive even though whether or not he actually dies from it, even for a moment, isn't completely clear and is open for interpretation. The second death is immediately followed by a rebirth of sorts.  
> - **Minor character death** : (mentioned in tags) Toraichi sacrifices his life to save Rin.  
> - **Assisted suicide** : Haruka absolutely does help end his life when an elderly Rin comes to him down at the river.  
> - **Dubcon** : It _isn't_ dubious consent, Rin wants to be there on the altar with Haruka, but given how it is written, I can see how it might read as Haruka forcing/coercing Rin in some way. Up until that point in the story, the fact that Rin is attracted to Haruka (and has been for quite some time) isn’t clear yet at all.
> 
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>  **______________________________**   
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> Please drop a comment if you enjoyed this or have any pressing thoughts about it! We’d love to know what you think. ♡


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